There are a number of different devices that have been employed in the past to enable persons with limited or no use of the lower limbs to activate the sustaining pedal of a piano.
The devices most commonly used in the past have been mechanical in nature. One such device employs a shortened crutch which engages the pedal and is operated by the shoulder movement of the user. However, such an arrangement throws the hands of the user out of position for accurate playing. Another arrangment requires the use of heavy weights suspended over the piano pedal. In this arrangement the weights are released by use of levers, cables and pulleys. Such an arrangement requires that the user posess a reasonable amount of strength in order to activate the pedal.
Still another device for activating the piano pedal includes a specially constructed bench equipped with levers which activate the pedal when the weight of the user's lower body is shifted. Such a device may be practical for persons with no use or limited use of there lower limbs.